In the area of firearms generally, and/or more particularly in the extensive area of long-arm and/or shoulder-fired firearms, such as those which may be operated while being supported by both hands, improvements may be found desirable in the shortening of the overall length of such a firearm, yet retaining as long a barrel as possible.
Firearms typically have external structural parts, each including a barrel, a support (e.g., handle and/or stock, or the like), a receiver, magazine and an externally activatable triggering device. Usually, the firearm receiver is the part of the firearm that houses the internal operating parts of the gun. In most, if not all prior firearms, the receiver is stationary and the operating parts are moving parts which reciprocate and/or cycle within the receiver during the loading and unloading of cartridges therein. Such moving parts have often included the firing mechanisms such as a typical bolt, firing pin, hammer or striker, sear and/or a trigger member, any one or more of which are operative with any other firing mechanisms, and the loading and unloading apparatus. The firing pin is often located in or adjacent the bolt, and usually also adjacent the hammer and sear and/or the internal triggering mechanism(s).
Conventional firearms often load and unload, e.g., cycle cartridges by moving the bolt and/or associated firing mechanisms to the rear and then forward again. Prior firearms have thus generally had to have receivers which are large enough, particularly long enough for the back and forth movement of the bolt and/or various of the adjacent or included elements or mechanisms during loading and unloading. This receiver length has generally been at least twice as long as the longer of the cartridges used, and/or the bolt or other mechanisms reciprocating therein. However, this extended, usually rearward; length in these prior firearms also represents length and corresponding internal area/volume used only during the loading and unloading processes, and is otherwise substantially unused, i.e., relatively empty space, during any other period.
In many firearm situations, this empty space has not provided any hindrance in operation or effect. However, it has been found that there are circumstances in which conservation of space in firearm length may be desirable. An example of such a situation is in the use of a rifle and shotgun connected together, and more particularly when a multiple-shot shotgun may be desired to be attached or mounted onto a primary weapon such as a rifle, inter alia. Such a connection may be desired in the execution of forced entries through doors by law enforcement or military personnel. A traditional entry method requires a shotgun to breach doors. In an exemplary conventional process without a connected rifle and shotgun, the shooter first fires a shotgun at the door to destroy the hinges or the lock and then either has to switch from the shotgun to a parent rifle or other such primary weapon or remove himself from the line of fire to allow others to proceed through the door. Either way, repositioning or switching weapons wastes a great deal of time in breaching situations and the loss of precious seconds could result in undesirable consequences. A better design would allow improved entry times in life-threatening situations and thereby lower the risks to the enforcement agents.
Moreover, the connection of an otherwise conventional shotgun onto a parent weapon such as a rifle provides a very cumbersome and awkward weapon system. At the least, a conventional shotgun, with the stock removed and mounted under the barrel of a rifle, will yield a combined weapon having two relatively different length barrels. The shotgun will generally extend much further forward than the rifle barrel. Sawing off the shotgun barrel is one way to shorten the barrel and reduce the difference; however, keeping the barrel longer is preferred because it provides more time for the gun powder to burn and thereby provides for more energy to be applied to the projectile(s), thereby making the shotgun more effective. Moreover, such an over/under or underslung connection of a rifle and conventional shotgun necessitates the undesirable altering of the normal placement of the firing and/or support hands in operation, as the user would need to either move the triggering finger(s) from one to the other trigger of the shotgun to the rifle, or otherwise unconventionally maneuver the support hand during use. A better design would allow firing of either the primary or secondary weapon with minimal or no change of the positioning of either one or the other or both of the operator's hands.
In conventional two-handed firearms, the fire controls group, including the trigger and safety, inter alia, are normally located adjacent the rear of the stationary receiver for operation by the rear, generally non-support hand and the magazine is usually located adjacent the forward end of the receiver and is also usually stationary. As such, and in some instances so as not to move the normal trigger finger from the primary weapon (e.g., rifle) trigger, the forward, support hand may have been used as a secondary operating hand for the secondary weapon (e.g., shotgun); however, with conventional firearms, the support hand would have to be moved rearward to be disposed in place next to the rearwardly disposed fire controls group, trigger and safety. Moreover, the user would have to move the normally supporting, now secondary operating hand rearward past the magazine, which could pose an obstacle, and place the hand in an unsupport-like position to maneuver the safety and trigger mechanism for the secondary weapon. And, then, the operator might desire to move that usual support hand back to a support position for primary weapon use, but must do so quickly and with obstacles and potential misplacement.
As a consequence, there exist needs for a compact, manually operated firearm that is optimally configured to operate in a shorter manifestation either alone or as a secondary firearm while being attached to a primary firearm. One preferred configuration for such a firearm may be to attach the secondary firearm forward of the receiver of a shoulder-fired primary weapon, and underneath the barrel of the primary weapon. The nature of the location and its use suggest some specific ergonomic desires with regard to weapon length and firing ease. Other desired characteristics include a shorter overall length, yet without altering or interfering with normal operation of either weapon, and/or allowing firing of either the primary or secondary weapon with minimal or no change of the positioning of either one or the other or both of the operator's hands.